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I-5 morning crash snarls traffic, serious injuries reported.mp4

Northbound traffic on Interstate 5 through Olympia was slowed early Wednesday, Nov. 16, after a dump truck was thought to have triggered a serious injury crash after it changed lanes, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Northbound traffic on Interstate 5 through Olympia was slowed early Wednesday, Nov. 16, after a dump truck was thought to have triggered a serious injury crash after it changed lanes, according to the Washington State Patrol. Steve Bloomsbloom@theolympian.com

Northbound traffic on Interstate 5 through Olympia was slowed early Wednesday, Nov. 16, after a dump truck was thought to have triggered a serious injury crash after it changed lanes, according to the Washington State Patrol. Steve Bloomsbloom@theolympian.com

A 34-year-old Tumwater woman was injured but in fair condition at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia on Wednesday after a crash on Interstate 5 that blocked northbound traffic for nearly three hours, according to the Washington State Patrol.

A 1-year-old boy in the vehicle was not injured. The operator of the dump truck that was thought to have triggered the crash has not been identified.

According to the State Patrol:

About 6:20 a.m. Wednesday, the dump truck was northbound on I-5 near milepost 107 when it apparently changed lanes and struck the Tumwater woman’s Honda Accord. She lost control of her car and was hit by a truck and mobile crane.

The 54-year-old Rochester man driving the mobile crane was not injured.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Trooper Todd Bartolac said troopers were looking for a light blue dump truck with the name “Rinkle” on it. They currently are not treating the crash as a hit-and-run incident because sometimes operators of large trucks change lanes and trigger crashes of which they are unaware, Bartolac said.

Anyone with information about the dump truck is asked to call 911.

The traffic backup on northbound I-5 extended south of Tumwater near 93rd Avenue. Highway 101 also was backed up beyond Evergreen Parkway.

Wednesday morning commuters pack into the northbound left lane of Interstate 5 approaching exit 107 to bypass a large Snell crane as the Washington State Patrol works to clear the road. Steve Bloomsbloom@theolympian.com

Northbound traffic on Interstate 5 through Olympia was slowed Wednesday morning after a dump truck is believed to have triggered a serious injury crash when it changed lanes, according to the Washington State Patrol. The crash happened near exit 107 on I-5 just before 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, Trooper Todd Bartolac said. Steve Bloomsbloom@theolympian.com

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